Watanagashi-hen
Watanagashi-hen '(綿流し編, ''Cotton Drifting Chapter) was the second question arc in the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series, released on December 29, 2002. It follows Onikakushi-hen, precedes Tatarigoroshi-hen, and is best known for the first appearance of Sonozaki Shion and revealing a more sensitive side of Sonozaki Mion. Ōishi appears more determined to obsessed in pursuit to solve Oyashiro-sama's curse regardless of the means. As in the previous arc, the story is related from the viewpoint of Maebara Keiichi. Unlike the previous arc, Watanagashi-hen suggests that characters are actually possessed by demons. Two characters make appearances and interact with others days after they are believed to be dead. Plot Keiichi wins a game tournament and gives his prize, a doll, to Rena stating that Mion is a tomboy and will not be interested in girly things, though Mion is actually rather hurt that Keiichi thinks about her that way, though she pretends not to mind. Alone in the anime or with his father in Sound Novel, he visits Angel Mort where he meets whom he thinks is Mion but is actually her identical twin sister Shion. The Watanagashi Festival is discussed, and the sisters' relationships with one another and with Keiichi are the main focus of this chapter. The group attends the Festival, where Tomitake Jirō and Takano Miyo are introduced, and meet Shion with whom the curse is discussed. Shion and Keiichi later encounter Tomitake and Miyo as they break into the Saiguden and are disturbed to discover that it is full of torture devices. Tomitake and Shion are unnerved by the increasing noise, which Keiichi and Takano are unable to hear, that sounds like a someone jumping on the wooden floor. Tomitake and Takano are found dead soon after, presumably for having trespassed on Oyashiro-sama's sacred ground, and Shion wonders if she and Keiichi are meant to "disappear." Tensions rise as others in the village mysteriously disappear. While Mion behaves strangely, Keiichi begins to suspect that the Shion with whom he has been talking to on the phone the past few days may not be Shion at all. Mion becomes Ōishi's primary suspect in the disappearances. Keiichi confides in Rena, and both are approached by Ōishi with the intent to gain entry to the Sonozaki home. They go to the house of their own accord where Keiichi confesses his misdeed on the night of the Festival and Rena lays out their evidence and theories as to what Mion has done. Revelations about the Sonozaki family and old village legends are made, after which Mion gets Keiichi to talk to her privately so that she can confess her misdeeds. She reveals that Shion is still alive, and takes him to her before incapacitating him with a taser. The truth of how things ended up this way is revealed in a hidden torture chamber, and his "last wish" may be the only thing that can save any of them. Watanagashi-Hen TIPS. Anime Episodes *Jealousy *Takano *Lies *Wish Disappearances and Deaths All deaths and disappearances are listed only as they are told in Watanagashi-hen. Spoilers only for the individual arc, not the overall series. Disappearances *Hōjō Satoshi' Deaths *'Tomitake Jirō: died of blood loss after clawing out his own throat June 19, 1983 on the night of the Watanagashi. *Takano Miyo: "killed" and burned in an oil drum in Gifu Mountains on the night of the Watanagashi June 19, 1983. Upon investigation, the corpse had been dead for over 24 hours, which conflicts with Takano's reported appearance during the Watanagashi festival. The identity of who or what appeared during the festival is not specified. *Kimiyoshi Kiichirō: killed in the Sonozaki torture chamber. His body was found in a well on June 23, 1983. *Furude Rika: tortured and killed in the Sonozaki torture chamber. Her body was found dead in a well on June 23, 1983. *Hōjō Satoko: tortured in the Sonozaki torture chamber and later found dead in a well on June 23, 1983. *Sonozaki Oryō: thought to be ill in her home. Her corpse was later found in a well on June 23, 1983. *Sonozaki Shion: became mentally ill after she was rescued by police on June 23, 1983. Fell from her apartment building in Shishibone and broke her neck on June 28, 1983. *Sonozaki Mion: broke her neck and died on June 23, 1983 after falling from a built-in ladder in the well in the Sonozaki torture chamber. Something that looked like her stabbed Maebara Keiichi in the stomach two days later. *Maebara Keiichi': stabbed in the stomach on June 25, 1983 by something that looked like Mion, despite her being pronounced dead for two days. He died a few days later in the hospital on June 28, 1983 after he hallucinates an undead Mion returning to torture him. Answer Arc See ''Meakashi-hen. I cannot quench your thirst Because even if you yearn for the truth, you refuse to believe in it. I cannot quench your thirst Because no such truth exists that you are in anticipation for. But I still want to quench your thirst. Because I am the one that put you into the desert. Frederica Bernkastel Category:Arcs Category:Question Arcs Category:Bad End